7-to-10-Day Outages Possible

In what may be an attempt to preempt criticism of the sort that followed prolonged power outages after 2011's Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, the Long Island Power Authority told customers to expect to be without electricity for 7-10 days.

In a press release issued late Sunday, LIPA said that it was calling on crews from Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Florida, California, and Iowa to help with anticipated restoration efforts.

"While customers may not see restoration crews working specifically in their neighborhoods after the storm, crews will perform damage surveys as soon as possible during and after the weather-related incidents while following established safety guidelines. Crews will work during the storm as conditions allow, however, as the storm makes a slow track across LIPA’s service territory, high sustained winds and hazardous road conditions could slow restoration efforts," it said.

The 8 p.m. National Weather Service forecast for eastern Long Island has winds gusting to 70 knots from the northeast Monday afternoon.

The wind is expected to shift to the east-southeast around nightfall, with sustained speeds of 45 to 50 knots and rain. The wind will decrease slightly late Monday, but gusts will continue to reach 70 knots from the south-southeast.